Gareth Evans: Sack race claims new casualties

THE managerial merry-go-round was given new impetus this week with the sackings of Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo and QPR boss Mark Hughes.

Professional football wouldn’t be the same without it and barely a week goes by that someone doesn’t perish at the hands of a trigger-happy chairman.

But while Welshman Hughes was the proverbial dead man walking and without a league win all season, Di Matteo lay third – four points behind leaders Manchester City.

Despite his limited managerial experience, the Italian landed the coveted Champions League trophy in his first half-season in charge at Stamford Bridge.

But football is a fickle sport and he won’t be the last to fall foul of Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. World Cup winner Luiz Felipe Scolari was given six months; Milan legend Carlo Ancelotti(all cor) got two years; while golden boy Andre Villas-Boas barely saw out his honeymoon period.

So what was Di Matteo expecting? Intense pressure and a ridiculously high level of expectation are part and parcel when managing at London’s top club.

Not since the Russian Revolution – when Abramovich took control of Chelsea in 2003 – has a manager ever really had his feet under the table. Respect and adulation count for nothing at the highest level and public dismissals are commonplace.

Nevertheless, Di Matteo had enjoyed unprecedented success during his short time in charge. A brief tenure which began and ended in the same calendar year delivered the biggest title in European football.

But make no mistake, Di Matteo, like all of those before him, would have known exactly what he was walking into. Far bigger names had been axed by Abramovich and new incumbent Rafael Benitez will be well aware of the task in hand.

So what’s the big appeal and why do so many celebrated managers line up to be shot?

On the field, Chelsea are one of the world’s top clubs with a squad most managers could only dream of. There are internationals competing for every position and with a pool of players bristling with quality, my mother would do well to fail.

Money is no object and with a Russian chequebook as long as your arm, there’s licence to buy what you want, when you want. And then there’s the kudos.

Managing Chelsea will do Di Matteo’s CV no harm at all. Neither will it hurt Rafa Benitez, whose profile could do with a boost after two years in the wilderness.

They are well paid, well looked after and, in every likelihood, well placed to challenge with the best in club football. I don’t feel in the slightest bit sorry for any of them and would swap places in a heartbeat. The humiliation of being fired in front of the world’s media is a small price to pay – and just think of the severance.